February 14, 2010 - Mark 1:35-37

I always find it interesting when God leads me a passage I did not expect. This morning is no exception.

"In the morning, while it was still very dark, he [Jesus] got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, 'Everyone is searching for you.'"

Everyone is searching for you. Before I became a Christian, I was searching for Him too, except I didn't know what I was searching for. I tried the occult (but NEVER witchcraft), I tried creating my own religion out of bits and pieces of religions I knew about. Itried turning my back on "organized" religion of all kinds. I was so far out there, Jesus had to come get me Himself.

But isn't that the way of it? We hunt, we search, we know in our heart of hearts that Something, Somebody better simply has to be out there somewhere. As the old country song says, we were "looking for love in all the wrong places."

It is said that a man chases a woman until she catches him. Maybe we can turn that around a little. Maybe we chase God until HE catches US! The funny thing is that all this searching and hunting and seeking is because nothing worth having comes easy. Without the "search," there is no "find." If God is presented to us on a platter, and we never question, never doubt, never have to search out the truth for ourselves, how real is our faith?

I submit that it is the searching that makes the finding worthwhile. It is the seeking that makes us grow spiritually. But it is the finding that grants us peace.

Today is Valentine's Day. May you find LOVE today in the presence of Jesus Christ.